ESPN – Braves vs. Diamondbacks – Box Score – August 08, 2008
Chipper was back, and he brought the offense with him. Funny how that happens. He went 2-4 with a homer and a walk, scored three times and drove in two. He wasn’t the offensive star, though; that was Martin Prado, who went 3-4 and missed the cycle by the homer. I want to reiterate: I like Prado, it’s just that it’s bizarre that one of the better hitters on the team gets to sit against lefthanders so often while the Lilburn Out Machine (0-4 with a walk, scored a run after reaching on an error, sucks) gets to play against everybody.
The DBacks took a first inning lead on a solo homer off of Campillo. Campillo had an odd night; through five, he had allowed just three hits, but one was that homer and another was a triple leading to a run. After that, he was more hittable, and yet Bobby stuck with him, which is kind of unusual since he’s been on a short leash most of the season.
Anyway, the Braves took the lead in the second when Prado hit a bases-loaded ground rule double; the Out Machine got stranded at third, but it ultimately didn’t matter. The Braves played doubles all night. Infante (who had three walks, weird for him) drove in Chipper and Escobar with one in the third to make it 4-1. In the fifth, McCann doubled and Chipper scored from first. Kotchman (who had a big night too, going 3-4 with a walk) drove in two with yet another double, and came in on one by Prado to make it 8-1.
But the DBacks chipped away, getting a run in the bottom of the inning and two in the sixth. In the seventh, Campillo gave up back-to-back doubles (anyone know the doubles park factor for this place?) and was finally pulled with the game 8-5. He hadn’t reached 90 pitches yet, and hadn’t walked anyone, so I really had no problem with him being in, but I just couldn’t figure it out. Ohman threw a wild pitch and then hit a batter, but struck out the next man. Tavarez came in and finished the inning with another strikeout.
But the Braves got some breathing room after that. Chipper hit a two-run homer, and then Jeff Bennett (left in with a four-run lead) hit a double to score two. He wound up getting the save, but gave up a run in the ninth.
Braves win. Awesome. Good to see the offense actually do something. š
I like Prado as a bench player, not as an everyday starter. Prado just seems like a .280/.320/.360 guy to me.
But yeah, Francoeur shouldn’t be starting. He shouldn’t have job security. But there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that even after this season, Francoeur will have way more starting job security for 2009 than potential second basemen Kelly Johnson, Prado, Infante and Lillibridge.
Can Infante play RF? Is Prado a better hitter than him? if yes and no then I’m at a total loss. Frenchy simply should not be playing.
Dan may be right: Prado should be a bench player. However, we really don’t know: Prado has never had the gig long enough for us to find out.
I have always thought that he was a pretty promising player and I have never understood all the xcorn that his name seems to summon on this site….
Stephen, I figure it has a lot to do with the ceilings of the two players. Kelly has the potential to hit 20 HRs and have a really decent OBP. Prado’s worth, on the other hand, seems to be tied mostly to BA. And his defense has been bad enough to generate a new term in the glossary.
I have always thought that he was a pretty promising player and I have never understood all the xcorn that his name seems to summon on this siteā¦.
Crap defense will generate some scorn. He can hit though.
Julian Tavarez got the biggest out of the night. If he likes his shoulder and/or elbow he might not want to make a habit of that.
Hey, a winning streak. Chipper is plain amazing.
Spike,
I’ve been pals with GReece for many years. (He was part of my Ellijay reference the other day—that’s where he’s from.) Didn’t know you were in his band—musta been after I left Athens.
I’m guessing you know a buncha folks I know.
spike Says:
Sansho – from the previous thread, do you know Greg? I did a few shows as a part of Redneck Greece Deluxe years ago, and played a few songs this year at the Johnny Cash Tribute show.
Hey cool, spike — RGD was always a lot of fun. I was working at Locos and dating Robin Bellflower aka “Crystal Chandelier” (an experience from which I’m yet to fully recover, in just about every way that statement can be interpreted) when RGD was first cranking up.
When we discovered our Ellijay connection, Greg gave me a book on the history of Gilmer County. There are several references to Reeces in the book, almost all of them reprobates. š
Kelly has the potential to hit 20 HRs and have a really decent OBP.
It’s his third year in the majors. Time to see that potential realized or I’ll start to believe it was a mirage.
I originally wrote this after Campillo’s last start began a discussion about his long-term legitimacy, but Skip’s death overshadowed the conversation. It was a little rougher for Jorge yesterday, but I thought I’d repost anyway:
I would encourage anyone with serious doubts about Campilloās staying power to read the following Marinersā blog entry from 2005, when the Mās signed him:
http://tinyurl.com/5ooqlm
I especially like the reference to Sal Maglie:
http://tinyurl.com/56o9we
Maglie, like Campillo, didnāt stick in the bigs until an advanced age, but to say they are late bloomers misses the point somewhat. They play serious ball in the Mexican League, and Maglieās quote about honing his curveball at 7000 feet certainly jibes with what weāve seen from Jorge. And considering that Campillo had the cojones to throw over the head of Vlad Guerrero not once, but twice in an at bat last year indicates that career path and pitching repertoire arenāt the only things he has in common with the man they called āThe Barberā.
Of course, itās certainly possible that weāre seeing the apex of his career right now. And I wouldnāt expect him to continue posting ERAs in the 2.5ās. But the good peripherals quoted above, along with a pretty good recent history in the minors (I canāt find his Mexican League stats ā anybody?), leads me to believe heāll continue to be good. Barring a sudden collapse, a spot in the ’09 rotation should be his to lose.
Last night during the game I think Joe Simpson mentioned Prado had spent most of Winter ball last year playing…. right field (*cough* bench French *cough*).
On a different note, I know many on here suffer from blackouts of the game and don’t get to watch many games on TV. I’m not sure if someone has already posted this but it looks like next year they may have different rules
DOB’s latest blog contains this amazing fact:
Do people realize itās been more than four years since Gonzalez blew a save? That was in his rookie year, on June 25, 2004, at Cincinnati.
Wow.
It should not have amazed me, but yesterday when I looked over the team stats, Frenchy led the team in ABs (not plate appearances–didn’t search that). That’s just disgraceful when we consider just how bad he’s been this year. At the very least he needs to sit a couple of times of week (if not every day).
I can understand not wanting to give up on him as he is young, but at some point I would think they would give up on him for this year and start working on next year.
So I heard Badmitton was a Olympic sport and thought, “Hmmm…I could do that.”
Nope, I am watching it and these guys are nuts. I think that Francoeur would be a great handball player. He could just go all out and make crazy throws. In fact, I think the game was designed just for him.
Mike Gonzalez is like the Chuck Norris of saves. He just doesn’t fail.
BTW, speaking of ole Chuck Norris, I was watching Walker, Texas Ranger the other day. Man, what a corny show. Was that ever popular? It had to have been before my time.
Well, I guess it was sorta popular – “It aired on CBS with three pilot episodes followed by eight full seasons, from April 21, 1993 to May 19, 2001, was broadcast in over 100 countries, and has since spawned at least one made-for-television movie.”
From wikipedia
Badmitton is an Olympic sport but baseball won’t be after this year.
Rotten bastards.
#15
I’ll often have M*A*S*H* on from 6 to 7 — it’s good background while I work — and Walker comes on right after. I’ll switch it to the ballgame or Family Guy asap, but I usually don’t get to the remote before Walker starts.
So I usually see the first 30 seconds or so, and unintentional hilarity has often already occurred. I’ve become an expert on the Walker-style establishing shot — skyline to exterior of building to room inside building to face of bad guy, and the whole thing never takes more than six seconds! Almost every episode starts this way! It’s like they can’t wait to get to the cheesy diologue and ass-kickings. No wonder Conan O’Brien mocked it for so long….
I am going to throw in my endorsement for Racquetball becoming an Olympic sport.
Women’s Beach Volleyball is now on; it is incredibly popular, but entirely due to its competitive aspects, I’m sure.
There’s an indoor women’s volleyball match on MSNBC — I notice they’ve taken some uniform hints from their outdoor counterparts. No more gym shorts….
@20, I think this investigative article would improve your enjoyment of the sport. Observe closely and you may learn something š
http://www.nbcolympics.com/beachvolleyball/photos/galleryid=122861.html
Racquetball is great. I play quite a bit. My boss is one of the best players in the south, so he is giving me pointers.
Cary,
Thanks, that really helped me understand the sport better.
This is the runner up photo of the games:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/beachvolleyball/photos/galleryid=185837.html
Announcer on having two tall players:
“The Chinese call it tall + tall”
Do they?
I think I’m starting to get a “clue” with the hand signals. Pretty tough to understand, though, they really should give some more examples.
I have a vhs tape with random Italian TV commercials that I’ll sometimes use for class. There’s a really sweet one of “Piu’ forte ragazzi”, or “Walker Texas Ranger” to us. There must be even more unintentional hilarity when it’s dubbed. Good to see that only the best of American “culture” gets seen over there. heh heh.
Hap, thanks for the link, that’s some of the best news I’ve heard in a while. I will bet they still don’t let everybody watch the Saturday games before 6 EST, but those blackout rules are beyond absurd.
At least Francoeur is outplaying Andruw. How about pay 16 millions to someone who makes Francoeur look like a star
Game thread is up.